Rhetoric

This panel will chart recent movements in rhetorical theory, preferring papers that trace developments in rhetoric’s connection to materiality. Questions to be considered include: is “agency” is uniquely human? Does agency extend into the non- or transhuman domain? To what extent do objects, materials, and environments rhetorically impact human decisions? Finally, the panel will explore the consequences of conflicting answers to these questions, which bear on human agency: on our capacity to speak, listen, make arguments, persuade, and create change—on our capacity to act freely and effectively, that is to say rhetorically.